Door latch



Jam 29, 1924.

R. G. MOORE DOOR LATCH Filed April 7. 1922 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR. (17/770 777007,

ATTORNEYS.

R. G. MOORE Jam, 29 1924.

DOOR LATCH Filed April '7, 1922 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 VIIIIIIIVIIIIIIIIA- M ATTORNEYS.

I Patented Jan. 29, 1924.,

UNITED STATES PATENT OFF RAYMOND G. MOORE, OF BRIDGEFORT, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TO THE BASSICK COM- PANY, OF BRIDGEPORT, CONNECTICUT, A CORPORATION OF CONNECTICUT.

DOOR LATCH.

Application filed April 7, 1922. Serial No. 550,276.

To all whom it may concern:

'Be it known that I, RAYMOND G. MOORE, a citizen of the United States, and resident of Bridgeport, county of Fairfield, State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Door Latches, of which the following is a specification.

The invention relates to improvements in door latches and particularly to latches adapted for use in connection with automobile doors. The invention is usually used in connection with a constructionin which a door handle on a laterally extending stem, and an upwardly extending operating lever, are provided, either of which may be made use of to retract the bolt. An object of the invention is to provide means whereby the door handle, when not operated, will be firmly maintained in the same angular position tion. Means are also preferably provided for causi the operating lever referred to, when use always to extend at the same angle, when in its normal inoperative position, such as a vertical position. Angular .play of the lever and handle being normally prevented, rattling of these parts will also be largely prevented. By these means not only will loose play and rattling be overcome, but also the appearance of the construction will. be improved in comparison with latch devices in which the ,door handle and the operating lever, when not in use,

may have an amount of freedom to move to greater or less extent into diflerent angular positions.

Other objectsof the invention comprise the provision of various combinations of parts and details of construction whereby an effective and improved latch construction will be provided, all as will be more set forth in the following s ecificationv fully and particularly pointed out in t e append ed claims.

In order that the invention may be more clearly understood attention is hereby directed to the accompanying drawings forming part of this application and illustrating oneembodiment of the invention.

' In the drawings Fig. 1 is a front elevation of a door latchin mechanism embodying the invention wi the cover late removed, but with the flanges of 't 0 cover plate, and certain other parts, shown in section;

4 thereof such for example as a horizontal posi-- with its end mounted. Plate 1 is illustrated as provided at its forward edge with a flange l through an opening in which the nose portion 5 of the olt normally extends. Thecasing is illustrated as applied to an automobile door, a portion of which is indicated at 6, the plate 1 being secured against one face, such as the inner face, of the door with the flange positioned against the edge of the door, the door being provided with a recess 7 in which the latch devices'arelocated, all as is common.

The cover plate 2 may be secured in position in any suitable manner. As illustrated, plate 1 may be provided with a post 8 secured thereto, having a screw-threaded portion 9 of reduced diameter at its outer end. Plate 2 is provided with a suitable opening which is slipped over the reduced portion 9 of post 8, plate 2 being provided at its forward end with projections 10 which extend into suitable openings 10 in the front flange 4. The rear portion of plate 2 is supported by restin on the shoulder formed at the outer end 0 the portion of greater diameter of post 8, plate 2 being held in position b means of nut 11 screwed up on the threa ed ortion 9 of post 8.

.The latch cated to provide a pair of rearwardly ex-" tending substantiall parallel ortions 12, 12, the bolt prefera 1y being ormed as a substantially U-shaped castin having the operative nose 5 extending 50111 the forward end thereof.

Bolt 3 is spring pressed into operative position, as b means of the spring 13, which as illustrate may be'coiled about post 8 portions bearing against the I1;ezl1r end surfaces 14 of the arms 12 of the,

o t. i

olt 3 as illustrated, is bifur- The latch is illustrated as being operable 'may bepivoted atone end of the same to plate 1, as is indicated at 16, the lever extending upwardly between plate 1 and the arms 12 of the bolt. Arms 12 should accordingly be provided with portions which are spaced away from the plate 1 sufficiently to permit the passage of lever 15 between plate 1 and the same. The forward portions 12, 12 of arms 12 are adapted to slide in contact, or to move approximately in contact, with plate 1. To the rear of portions 12 the arms 12 are offset to provide shoulders 17. Between shoulders 17 and the rear ends of arms 12, the arms are raised from plate 1 a sufficient distance to permit the passage of lever 15, as is indicated at 12 At the rear ends of arms 12 lugs 18 are provided which slidingly engage against plate 1. Spring 13 presses against the rear surfaces 14 of these lugs 18 to press the bolt forwardly as stated. The operating lever 15 will press against the forward surface of at least the upper one of these lugs 18 when the hand lever is operated to retract the bolt against the pressure of spring 13. Hand lever 15 is normally spring pressed forwardly, as b means of a spring 19 which may be suita ly secured to plate 1, as indicated at 20, 20, the free endportion of the spring passingover the lower portion of lever 15 and then being bent towards plate 1 into position to press against the rear edge of lever 15.

The handle 21 is illustrated as being secured to a stem 22 which is adapted to"eX tendthrough suitable openings in the door and plate 2. The handle may have an escutcheon plate 23 rotatably mounted thereon and secured to the door by any suitable means.

4 One of the features of the invention is the provision of a connecting means between the stem 22 and bolt 3'which shall be effective to normally maintain handle 21 in a desired osition, such as the horizontal. In the orm of the invention illustrated this connection comprises a rotatable member 24 havin' a squared opening therethrough through wli ich, or into which stem 22 may be inserted. Member 24 is illustrated as provided with a cylindrical portion 25 of reduced diameter at one end rotatably mounted in a circular opening in plate 1 and a corresponding cylindrical portion 25 of reduced diameter at the other end rotatably mounted in a circular opening in the cover plate 2, as is indicated in Fig. 5.

Member 24 is of generally cylindrical shape with a forward extension 26 which is symmetrically formed to provide shoulders 27, 27, which are adapted to engage against shoulders 17 on arms 12 of the bolt. The shoulders on the bolt and the shoulders 27 on member 24 are correspondingly formed so as to normally enga e each other squarely. The bolt being pressed forwardly by spring bolt ad acent the nose thereof. Runway 13 shoulders 17 on the bolt will always bear against shoulders 27 to maintain the same position, so long as the bolt is in its forward operative position. Handle 21 will accordingly be maintained in horizontal, or other desired position. The bolt also will be maintained in its proper operative position, in alignment with the axis of its forward and back sliding movement by the engagement of shoulders 17 and 27. When the handle 21 is rotated in one direction or the other member 24 will accordingly be rotated and the bolt will be retracted by the pressure of one or the other of the shoulders 27 against one or the other surfaces 17 of the bolt.

Member 24 is preferably provided at the rear thereof with a plane surface 28 parallel with shoulders 17 and 27. Hand lever 15 is provided with a lug or extension 29 having a squared forward edge 30 adapted to engage against surface 28. Member 29 may take the form of a small plate secured to lever 15 by rivet 31, extending forwardly therefrom and bent back upon itself into engagement with the forward edge of lever 15 as shown in Fig.2. I With this arrangement hand lever 15 in it normal position engages against the forward edges of lugs 18 on the bolt while the forward edge of lug or projection 29 on the hand lever engages against the squared rear surface of member 24, the hand lever accordingly being held stationary in a desired upright position. Accordingly there will be no loose movement or rattling of the hand lever, or the door handle, or the bolt, the hand lever, bolt and member 24 normally being held by spring pressure in to engagement with each other with the member 24 engaged by the bolt on one side and by the hand lever on the other side, as described.

The cover plate 2 is provided with side flanges 32 which are suitably cut away to permit the passage of hand lever 15. These flanges 32 will act as guides for the side edges of the bolt. When the bolt is retracted by hand lever 15 extension 29 on the level will, of course, move out of engagement with the squared surface 28 at the rear of member 24 and shoulder 17 on the bolt will move rearwardly out of engagement with shoulders 27 on member 24, these various surfaces coming again into engagement when the bolt is again permitted to assume its forward position.

The present invention may, of course, be used with various forms of bolt and is not limited in its applicability to any particular form of bolt movement. In the construction illustrated in the drawings the plate 1 is provided with a runway 33 upon which slidably engages a projection 34 provided on the 33 is provided with an inclined flan e 35 at its forward edge up which lug 34 w' ride when eters the bolt is shot to give the nose of the bolt a lateral movement, which is intended to cause the door, when closed, to be firmly seated against its seat, to prevent rattling. Such a construction, however, does not constitute any part of my present invention.

It should be understood that the invention is not limited strictly to the details of construction described but is as broad as is indicated by the accompanying claims.

What I claim is 1. In a door latch, the combination of a plate, a spring-actuated bolt slidably mounted thereon, a pivoted lever adapted toretract the bolt, a handle stem adapted independently to retract the bolt, and means operatively engaged by said stem and operated thereby to retract the bolt, said means engaging said bolt and engaging said lever when the bolt is in actuated position, to hold said stem and lever firmly in their normal positions.

2. In a door latch, the combination of a plate, a spring actuated bolt slidably mounted thereon, having a shoulder, a pivoted lever adapted to retract the bolt, a handle stem adapted independently to retract the bolt, and pivoted means operatively engaged by said stem and operated thereby to retract the bolt, said means having a surface at one side thereof adapted to engage said bolt shoulder and a surface on another side thereof engaging said lever when the bolt is in actuated position, tohold said stem and ;lever firmly in their normal positions.

3. In a door latch, the combination of aplate, spring-actuated latch means slidably mounted thereon, having a pair of separated rearwardly extending portions with shoulders thereon, a member rotatably mounted between said portions and having a shankreceiving socket therein, and having shouldered extensions adapted to engage both of said first named shoulders when said latch means is in actuated position, and an actuating lever adapted independently to retract said latch means, said latch means having lugs thereon which are engaged by said lever to retract the same, said lever normally engaging against one surface of said rotatably mounted member and against said lugs when the shouldered extensions on said member are in engagement with the shoulders on said latch means.

4. In a door latch, the combination of a plate, a spring actuated latch bolt slidably mounted thereon having a pair of separated rearwardly extending portions with shoulders thereon, a member rotatably mounted between said portions and having a shank receiving socket therein, and having lateral shouldered extensions adapted to engage both of said first-named shoulders when said bolt is in actuated position, said bolt portions having rearward abutments, and a pivoted lever adapted to engage said rearward abutments and to independently retract said bolt, said lever and rotatably mounted member having respectively a front surface and a rear surface adapted to squarely abut against each other whensaid bolt is actuated and when said rearward abutments press said lever forwardly, at which time said shouldered extensions on said member are in engagement with the shoulders on said bolt.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification, this 6th day of April, 1922, at New York, N. Y.

RAYMOND G. MOORE. 

